Thailand scraps 25-year-old agreement with Cambodia on joint energy exploration
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Renewed border clashes between Thailand and Cambodia in 2025 have long prompted expectations that the agreement may be cancelled.
PHOTO: REUTERS
BANGKOK – Thailand on May 5 cancelled a longstanding agreement with Cambodia to work towards joint offshore energy exploration, Thailand’s Prime Minister said, defying calls from its neighbour to stay the course on the 25-year-old pact.
The Thai Cabinet’s cancellation of the 2001 agreement, which seeks to develop a framework to jointly explore hydrocarbons in parts of the Gulf of Thailand where the claims of Thailand and Cambodia overlap, had long been expected and follows two rounds of armed conflict between the two countries in 2025.
The withdrawal was an election campaign pledge of Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who earlier in 2026 rode a wave of nationalism stoked by the fierce fighting with Cambodia to become the first Thai prime minister to be re-elected in two decades.
“Cancelling the deal is not related to the border conflict with Cambodia, but part of my policy.
“It has been 25 years, and there has been no progress,” Mr Anutin told reporters, adding that Cambodia would be informed of the decision.
Cambodia regrets Thailand’s cancellation of a 25-year-old agreement on joint energy exploration, its foreign minister said.
Mr Prak Sokhonn said in a statement that Cambodia will now initiate a compulsory conciliation mechanism under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), adding that Thailand’s termination of the agreement does not affect Cambodia’s lawful rights over maritime areas.
Phnom Penh had recently described Thailand’s plan to unilaterally withdraw from the agreement, known as Memorandum of Understanding 44, as “deeply regrettable”, adding it remained “firmly and consistently committed” to it.
Despite multiple rounds of meetings, MOU 44 has made little progress since it was signed, with the process derailed by political instability in Thailand, intermittent disputes between the two neighbours and fierce opposition from Thai nationalists.
The two-track agreement had proposed creating a framework to allow offshore oil and gas to be jointly explored in overlapping areas while parallel negotiations take place on formal demarcation.
Thai officials have said they intend to rely on terms set out in UNCLOS for any future negotiations.
A ceasefire has been in place between Thailand and Cambodia since late December after two eruptions of fighting along large stretches of their 817km border, the first of which ended after intervention by US President Donald Trump.
Each side blames the other for triggering both rounds of clashes, which killed close to 150 people and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. REUTERS
